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Everything would turn on this marriage.
而一切的一切都有賴于這場婚禮的順利舉行。
If Edmure and Roslin were happy in one another,
假如艾德慕和蘿絲琳能夠美滿，
if the Late Lord Frey could be appeased and his power once more wedded to Robb’s …
假如遲到的佛雷侯爵得到安撫，愿意全力協助羅柏……
Even then, what chance will we have, caught between Lannister and Greyjoy?
即便如此，我們又該如何來應付蘭尼斯特與葛雷喬伊兩大勢力的夾擊呢？
It was a question Catelyn dared not dwell on, though Robb dwelt on little else.
這個問題，凱特琳不敢想，羅柏本人也不敢想。
She saw how he studied his maps whenever they made camp, searching for some plan that might win back the north.
每次扎營，國王都眉頭深鎖地研究地圖，仿佛要找出贏回北境的妙計。
Her brother Edmure had other cares.
弟弟艾德慕擔憂的卻是另一件事。
“You don’t suppose all Lord Walder’s daughters look like him, do you?”
“呃，你覺得瓦德·佛雷的女兒不會都像父親那么丑吧？”
he wondered, as he sat in his tall striped pavilion with Catelyn and his friends.
他和凱特琳及朋友們聚在高大的條紋帳篷里，漫不經心地問。
“With so many different mothers, a few of the maids are bound to turn up comely,” said Ser Marq Piper,
“他有那么多老婆，總能生下幾個標致女兒，”馬柯·派柏笑道，
“but why should the old wretch give you a pretty one?”
“可這老混蛋干嗎要送個好人兒給你呢？”
“No reason at all,” said Edmure in a glum tone.
“沒錯。”弟弟陰郁地說。
It was more than Catelyn could stand.
凱特琳無法忍受，
“Cersei Lannister is comely,” she said sharply.
“瑟曦·蘭尼斯特還是個大美人呢！”她尖刻地道，
“You’d be wiser to pray that Roslin is strong and healthy, with a good head and a loyal heart.”
“但愿蘿絲琳小姐強壯健康，心底善良，為人忠厚。”
And with that she left them.
說罷，她拂袖而去。
Edmure did not take that well.
艾德慕接受不了姐姐的態度，
The next day he avoided her entirely on the march,
第二天便徹底回避，
preferring the company of Marq Piper, Lymond Goodbrook, Patrek Mallister, and the young Vances.
遠遠地和馬柯·派柏、萊蒙·古柏克、派崔克·梅利斯特及凡斯家的年輕成員們待在一起。
They do not scold him, except in jest, Catelyn told herself when they raced by her that afternoon with nary a word.
他們不會責難他，只會和他開玩笑，下午時候，凱特琳看著歡樂的年輕人們從身邊跑過，
I have always been too hard with Edmure, and now grief sharpens my every word.
心里想，打小我就對艾德慕太過嚴厲，想必悲傷更影響了語言。
She regretted her rebuke.
她為自己的失態而后悔。
There was rain enough falling from the sky without her making more.
雨已下得夠大，憑什么還要干涉別人的心情？
And was it really such a terrible thing, to want a pretty wife?
說到底，希望娶個漂亮老婆有什么錯？
She remembered her own childish disappointment, the first time she had laid eyes on Eddard Stark.
她想起自己第一次看見艾德·史塔克時，從心頭油然而生的那種孩子氣的失望，
She had pictured him as a younger version of his brother Brandon, but that was wrong.
本以為他是他哥哥布蘭登的年輕翻版，卻大錯特錯。
Ned was shorter and plainer of face, and so somber.
奈德不僅比哥哥矮，面容也更平凡，且終日莊重。
He spoke courteously enough, but beneath the words she sensed a coolness that was all at odds with Brandon,
他談吐雖極盡禮儀，但在言語底下，她感受到的卻是冷淡——
whose mirths had been as wild as his rages.
這點絕不屬于情緒外露、嘻笑怒罵的布蘭登。
Even when he took her maidenhood, their love had more of duty to it than of passion.
即便當他帶走她的貞操時，他們的愛，與其說是激情，倒不如歸于責任。
We made Robb that night, though; we made a king together.
但那天晚上，我們誕生了羅柏，誕生了北境之王。
And after the war, at Winterfell, I had love enough for any woman, once I found the good sweet heart beneath Ned’s solemn face.
戰爭結束后，在臨冬城里，我感受到丈夫的愛，找到奈德莊重面孔下那顆可愛又可敬的心。
There is no reason Edmure should not find the same, with his Roslin.
艾德慕，希望你和蘿絲琳也能幸福美滿。
As the gods would have it, their route took them through the Whispering Wood where Robb had won his first great victory.
上天好像有意為之，隊伍不經意間經過了囈語森林，羅柏正是在這里打下平生第一場大勝仗。
They followed the course of the twisting stream on the floor of that pinched narrow valley,
他們沿狹窄的石板河床底的溪流前進，
much as Jaime Lannister’s men had done that fateful night.
當日詹姆·蘭尼斯特的軍隊正于此遭到重創。
It was warmer then, Catelyn remembered, the trees were still green, and the stream did not overflow its banks.
那時氣候還很溫暖，凱特琳憶起，樹木依舊蔥綠，溪流未曾猛漲。
Fallen leaves choked the flow now and lay in sodden snarls among the rocks and roots,
如今秋葉充塞流水，到處亂石盤根，
and the trees that had once hidden Robb’s army had exchanged their green raiment for leaves of dull gold spotted with brown,
曾為羅柏的軍隊提供掩護的林木，業已脫下綠色的外套，換上一身金色中帶棕色斑點的服裝，
and a red that reminded her of rust and dry blood.
有些還成了暗紅，令人不安地聯想起鐵銹和凝血。
Only the spruce and the soldier pines still showed green, thrusting up at the belly of the clouds like tall dark spears.
只有云杉和士兵松綠意仍存，挺拔云天，好似高大的黑色槍矛。
More than the trees have died since then, she reflected.
一切都變了，她心想。
On the night of the Whispering Wood, Ned was still alive in his cell beneath Aegon’s High Hill,
囈語森林大戰的那天晚上，奈德還活在伊耿高丘底下的黑牢里，
Bran and Rickon were safe behind the walls of Winterfell.
布蘭和瑞肯安全地待在臨冬城的墻壘后，
And Theon Greyjoy fought at Robb’s side, and boasted of how he had almost crossed swords with the Kingslayer.
席恩·葛雷喬伊則在羅柏身邊奮戰，事后不斷夸口自己差點與弒君者交手。
Would that he had.
如果成全了他的愿望，
If Theon had died in place of Lord Karstark’s sons, how much ill would have been undone?
如果是席恩而非卡史塔克大人的兩個兒子一命歸天，事情該有多不一樣啊！
